


Operation Lockhart

by Lynn_Loch



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gilderoy Lockhart is in love, Gilderoy Lockhart is not a good person, Good Albus Dumbledore, Harry potter is done, Innuendo, Lily Evans Potter & Severus Snape Friendship, Misguided Albus Dumbledore, One Shot, One-Sided Attraction, Past Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald, Rich Harry Potter, Severus Snape is Bad at Feelings, Severus Snape is So Done, Severus Snape is not a good person but we love him, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:47:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25511551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lynn_Loch/pseuds/Lynn_Loch
Summary: Harry thought he was going to dislike Lockhart as a teacher. Turns out he was wrong, he doesn't dislike Lockhart at all, he hates him. Having just learned he had a bit more money in the bank than he initially thought he hires some help to deal with his little issue.
Relationships: Gilderoy Lockhart/Severus Snape, Gilderoy Lockhart/Severus Snape One Sided
Comments: 8
Kudos: 61





	Operation Lockhart

**Author's Note:**

> This is a short one-shot that I wrote in a day. I didn't put too much dialog in it because I wanted a very specific flow for it. I don't know how well I did but I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Also, this is unedited. I'm sorry.

It was the third day of Harry’s second year at Hogwarts, the second day of classes, and the first day of class with their new Defence teacher: Professor Gilderoy Lockhart. The man was Blond and glittery, a total narcissist, and everything Harry aspired not to be. In all honesty, when Harry first met him, Harry was sure he wasn’t going to like him.

Hermione seemed to think he was worthy of something though so Harry decided to give him a chance, and after quickly skimming through their class books for this year, Harry actually held some hope. The guy was conceded as all hell but if any of what he had written was true it was not without merit. So Harry walked into the Defence classroom thinking that maybe this year the class would be at least decent.

Harry now realized that his previous thoughts about Lockhart were wrong. Harry didn’t hate him at all. In fact, he would love to be left alone with the man for several hours to test how his hands burned away at the last DADA teacher, Quirinus Quirrell, and to see if it would work again this year.

Lockhart had proved, with today's “lesson” that his only skill was being so in love with himself that he couldn’t tell when half the class was plotting his murder and the other half the destruction of all he held dear in his pathetic life, even the girls who were previously too busy admiring his looks to pay attention to what he was saying. For once, Gyiffindors and Slytherins could agree on something. Lockhart had to go.

And Harry had a plan to make it happen.

When Harry had gone to Gringotts over the summer he had learned that the amount of money he had in his vault was not just a lot by his standard but a lot by wizarding standards too. He wasn’t the richest in England or anything like that (that was, unsurprisingly, the Malfoys) but he was more than wealthy. And if Harry had learned anything from his stint with the Dursleys, it’s that you could get away with a lot/get whatever you want if you have money (though he disliked it, it just seemed to be how a lot of people operated).

Harry knew that for his plan to work he needed the help of someone who: a) would take the money, b) hated Lockhart as much as he did, and, from what he could gather about these kinds of things, c) had more to gain from this than they had to lose. This narrowed things down to one person: Snape.

Harry decided, based on all of the dinners his aunt had hosted, that the best time to negotiate with someone was after they ate. So he approached Snape after dinner the following day. With any luck, Lockhart would soon be out of the school.

“Professor Snape, sir, could I speak with you for a moment? I need your help with something,” Harry said as politely as he could, knowing the way he usually spoke to the man wouldn’t be helpful.

0---------------------

The last thing that Severus had expected while he was preparing his classroom for tomorrow was for Potter himself to come in with a shocking offer. He was so shocked by it that he hadn't fully processed what he had agreed to until after Potter had left.

Potter wanted Lockhart out of the school. Not just that, but he wanted Lockheart to quit “willingly” so that no one but Lockhart would suffer any consequences. Potter was even willing to pay to have him gone, and the amount wasn’t something to sneeze at either. 10,000 galleons. **_10,000 GALLEONS._ **Severus didn’t even get paid near that much in a year, and now a 12-year-old of all people, a 12-year-old who hated him at that, was offering it to him to do something he already wanted to do. Albus could hardly blame him…

His head filled with ideas for all that he could do with that much money, he tended to his duties almost thoughtlessly. By the time he fell asleep that night he already had over half a plan formulated in his head and a near complete list of what he would buy when he was done.

By the next morning, he had a completed plan, based on the man's values. Severus only knew because the man never shuts up about himself, even if you tell him you don’t care or just don't want to speak to him the insufferable arse just kept going.

0---------------------

Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five times winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile Award, and soon to be the most beloved teacher of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Gilderoy smiled to himself. His time at Hogwarts was going exactly how he wanted it. His fellow Teachers were well on their way to becoming good friends of his and the students loved him and his class. 

There was only one man who I am having trouble with, he thought as he fixed his hair in the mirror. Severus Snape. But maybe not, a voice crooned in the back of his head, on my travels all over the world, On one of his many book tours, I've learned a lot about people and I believe the Japanese have a word for people like Severus, people who admire others heavily, even romantically, but express the opposite emotion on the outside. He stood there for a moment admiring the way his hair fell and tried to think of the word.

A Tsundere! That's what they're called! I’ll have to tell Severus I’m flattered he’s taken such a liking to me. He is quite an intelligent man, powerful too. He’s got a sort of Dark allure to him, not conventionally attractive but there is a quality to him that I could see myself admiring. 

Sadly though, despite all of that, he’s just not my type. If only he was taller…

0---------------------

The first step to destroying Lockhart was easy, as most, if not all, of the school, seemed to hate the man with an almost unifying force. Severus now just needed the man to believe that himself. Which was not as easy a task. 

For some reason, every time Severus tries to point out how hated Lockhart is by the students and those they work with the man sputters for a moment and seems _pleased._ At first, Severus mistook it for his efforts working but realized that the man is insufferably stupid, he seems to misinterpret literally everything Severus says to him as some sort of twisted compliment. He tried everything from saying it outright to the man's face that he wasn’t wanted to instigate others into doing it too but the man seemed to twist whatever was being said into praise. 

During one of His more vocal tirades trying to get it through Lockhart's thick skull that people disliked him, the man seemed to blush. Which took Severus back for a moment, and after a strange conversation that left Severus feeling confused and like he was in need of a shower, he felt somehow disgusted and violated and he couldn’t figure out why.

By Lunch, on the second day, Severus decided that the man was sick in the head. If he wanted Lockhart gone he would need to change methods. 

Severus had caught Lockhart looking into many reflected services all around the school and that gave him his next idea. Since Lockhart was so obsessed with his own appearance maybe he would prefer not to be seen at all if he thought he looked repulsive. Pulling out a notebook from his youth, Severus found the charm that Potter and his gang had once cast on him, making him look so ugly to himself every time he looked in the mirror that eventually not only did he just stop looking all together he stopped taking care of himself too. He eventually found a counter, hence why he had it written down, but the damage was done by then.

The spell worked gradually so the victim doesn’t try to undo it too soon but Severus knew that if he overpowered it a little it should move fast enough to get Lockhart out of the school. He could hardly believe he was stooping to the same methods of Potter and his gang.

0---------------------

Gilderoy fixed his Hair in the mirror for the fourth time that evening, it didn’t seem to want to cooperate at all and he was getting nervous. Severus had gotten more aggressive in his pursuit of him, and Gideroy was having a hard time continuing to turn him down.

It had only been two days since he had figured out Severus’ intentions toward him and the man was already stepping up his game with every time Gilderoy turned him down. And then at dinner, seeming to note what Gilderoy was doing, Severus sat next to him and had an oddly pleasant conversation with him. And what's more, Gilderoy had noticed Severus was making subtle innuendos with his wand whenever he noticed Gilderoy was looking. Another quick step up. It must have been because of their conversation in the halls before lunch, Gilderoy knew he was responding a little too well to Severus’ flirting but the conversation just seemed to flow and around the time their break period had come around it seemed Severus had taken some his advice to heart and had cleaned himself up a bit. His hair, no longer greasy, hung down longer and darker than Gilderoy had originally thought, and his skin looked like it was scrubbed raw getting all that potions gunk off of him that made him look so much older than he actually was.

He looked attractive. And here he, _The_ Gilderoy Lockheart, was feeling less than his usual 100%. And before he could stop himself he started thinking, Merlin what does Severus see in me anyways if he ever found out about my secret would he immediately drop me or would he even care? He never thought like this he was Gilderoy Lockhart, _the Gilderoy Lockhart_. Would he try and press me to his side, or perhaps kiss…

Gilderoy shook himself, now was not the time to fantasize now was the time for action. He looked in the mirror again, something felt off, he thought. But there was no time for that now! He and Severus agreed to meet tonight to discuss plans for the dueling club, something Gilderoy was hoping to start up before the end of November rolled around. If he knew Severus like he thought he did, which is to say very well, and he _knows_ he does, Severus would appreciate it if he was on time. 

Hopefully, Severus wouldn’t notice the odd tilt in his usually perfect smile or the off way his hair was folding.

0---------------------

Severus was having a tough time instilling any form of doubt into Lockhart, it was as if the man was made out of misplaced confidence. And, much like with Severus’ first plan, Lockhart seemed to take everything he said as some sort of praise and got only, somehow, more confident than before. This time Severus realized to change tactics much quicker than before.

Severus supposed that getting him more worked up in his appearance than before seemed to be working well enough, he would simply need to move on to the next part of his plan and make sure this part would work better than part one, too compensate for some of his unfortunate missteps in the plan. The second step is to make Lockhart believe others think ill of him. Severus knows that technically he has tried this before but this time he thinks he’s figured out a much better way to do it. 

Unlike all the other Teachers Lockhart did not spend his nights that he didn’t walk rounds grading homework and prepping for the next day of class, as Severus had learned the previous night while awkwardly making plans for a dueling club with the man. He would instead answer heaps of fan mail so Severus simply put a redirection spell on Lockhart before the end of their chat last night, any owls that came his way with mail would immediately turn back around. 

The second part was another charm that Severus had found. It, much like the previous charm, was technically a prank spell designed to make the subject see others around them as looking alien compared to normal but the spell could easily be modified by intent. This, Severus felt, is probably the spell he should have started with, modified just so to make it seem like people are looking at the subject with disgust. The caster will appear normal however so Severus will just have to sneer naturally but that's easy enough. He would have to catch Lockhart alone in a hall to cast it just right as it isn’t a very quick charm to cast but that shouldn't be hard.

But no.

It _was_ hard. Very hard, even if he asked to speak to the man, multiple times, for just a moment. The previously applied charm was making Lockhart desperate for approval on his looks from those around him and enough girls had gotten past his personality for long enough to give him. It took Severus roughly three hours to get Lockhart alone and by then the man's attention was solely on him meaning he’d had to wait till the end of their conversation once more to cast it. 

He made up a false problem for the dueling club situation which he claimed to need Lockhart's assistance to move forward. The conversation progresses and after a while, Severus was met with that disgusting feeling again and so he bid Lockhart a good day and cast the charm once the man had turned away. Now to wait for the results.

0---------------------

Gilderoy was sure he was losing his mind. He couldn’t think about anyone else but Severus. Not even himself! Not for very long at least, he was so sure he looked awful, and for some reason, the compliments others gave him felt hollow. He knew he wasn’t meeting his usual standards and the only one who seemed to not be acting strange about it was Severus.

In fact, Severus was vying for his attention just as much as normal. He even tried to cut into Gilderoys conversations all day just to get him alone. Gilderoy was sure that Severus was finally going to ask him out but apparently, Severus had lost his nerve, based on the way the Tsundere was talking he was overwhelmed by Gigeroys appearance. Seemingly _still_ impressed with how good he looked unlike everyone else. 

He supposed though that since Severus had still wanted him to himself for a while he had made up that issue with the dueling club (which according to the headmaster was right on track to start up during November, maybe even before Halloween if things went well) and they had, not so subtly, flirted for a half an hour. It shouldn’t be long before he and Severus were together at this rate. 

It wasn’t until the next day that Gilferoy realized he hadn’t gotten any fan mail for three whole days, and it was starting to make him more insane than Severus was.

0---------------------

It seems to be working, Severus thought as he ate his breakfast. Lockhart was beginning to get twitchy, he was snappish with all the students and even the staff too, Severus noted that the idiot hadn't even combed his hair this morning. Severus spanked a glance at Potter and smirked letting the boy, who was looking to him questioningly, know that this was his doing. Seeming pleased they both turned back to their meals. 

It was time for the final part. The morning after he had been hired by Potter he started to read through Lockhart's books to get a more solid idea of how to get the man to quit and found that many of the actions, dates, and in one the moon cycles, didn’t line up quite right. The stories were just that, stories. Works of fiction. At first, Severus wasn’t sure what to do with this information, other than just hand it over to Albus but that would have meant he didn’t get paid so the idea was nixed. Now though, Severus knew exactly how to use this information. 

For the first time in three days, it was time for Lockhart to get some “fan mail.”

0---------------------

Severus was having Tea with Albus in his office, against his will, when suddenly Lockhart burst through the doors. His face was red and blotchy like he had been crying for hours, Severus stood quickly and Lockhart ran to him and grabbed onto the front of his robes falling almost like he was in Severus’ arms.

“You have to help me, Severus I don't know what I’m going to do.”

“What are you-” and before Severus could even finish that sentence, or Albus could move from his seat, Lockhart started rambling about all the strange things that had been happening around him, ending with a letter he had got earlier that day.

“What letter?” Severus asked, knowing exactly what letter.

That set Lockhart off again and he was a crying mess, he went on and on for a while about all the things he had done, the lying, the obliviating, the extortion, and the embezzlement from Hogwarts ever since he had first started the job, and how someone had found out and was threatening him “I need your help Severus if this gets out I'm ruined, please Severus, please, I need you,” he clung even tighter to Severus. And that is when Albus stood. He had heard enough.

0--------------------- 

It had taken several days to get Lockhart fired, and arrested, it would have been better if he had quit, but no one knew of his involvement in what had happened, so it didn’t matter much. The money, all 10,000 galleons, found its way to his office desk in a pouch that was much bigger on the inside, but still quite hefty. Potter was good for something after all.

Albus had kept visiting Severus after the incident. He appeared to believe that there was some sort of friendship between him and Lockhart and seemed to be trying to comfort him while trying to find a replacement before classes started up again next week, as they were put on hold because of Lockhart's arrest. 

More time to himself and to finish grading assignments he had missed while trying to get rid of Lockhart. 

0---------------------

Albus was sitting in his office, worry etched into his face. He had been trying for years to help Severus move on from Lily, whom he had thought Severus had loved romantically. But now looking at the dates, other requests that Severus had made when he had come to him, and recent events, that thought was gone. And a series of new thoughts had taken its place.

Severus was like him. He was in a bad place mentally from his home life and had fallen prey to the darker side of things only to later regret it and seek out help, as he had done in his youth. He had loved Lily like a sister and felt responsible for putting her in danger and later for her Death, as he had felt with his own sister Ariana. He liked men not women, just as Albus did and had fallen for someone who would only have hurt and used him, just like him and Gellert.

Oh, there was no hiding it anymore, Albus saw how he had held onto Gilderoy when he had come into Severus’ office that night, how scared he looked when Gideroy had asked for help, and how quiet he had suddenly gotten after his arrest. He thought back on the last few days, how much time they had spent together and even how they had ideas of starting a club together so they could spend even more time in each other's company. It was all moving so fast. And now Severus has already receded into himself again, halting whatever progress Albus and Gilderoy had made.

It was now up to Albus, as someone who had been through this years ago, to help Severus back up again. He can’t let Severus down.

**Author's Note:**

> As far as Galleons go I went with the "each galleon is five pounds" method of conversion for a loose approximation on how much Harry had and how much he actively hated Lockhart. About 50,000 pounds or 63,144.50 USD. The Highest average wage for a private school teacher is 34,000 USD so the amount Snape got for a few day's work is almost more than twice his pay (based on my research but I might be wrong so feel free to correct me I did write this in a day).


End file.
